Roberts Radio REV-ISTREAM3MB Retro DAB/DAB+ FM Wireless Portable Digital Bluetooth Radio Alexa Voice Controlled Smart Speaker Revival iStream 3 - Midnight Blue

R250 or iStream 3? Actually they are both beautiful, but the istream 3 is a beast to operate. Ok I’m 73 and just so ‘last century’, as my grandchildren remind me: indeed, my faithful old R250 circa 1998 (number 302700) Is technically just a simple radio: you switch it on, maybe twirl a knob and that’s it - certainly light years behind this latest model, released in 2018. However this is a review of aesthetics and innate quality not function and it rambles on rather, so most of you should ‘tune out’ now, I suspect!What else can they think of for this iStream 3 to do? Get the lovely Alexa to make the tea, perhaps? Actually I do not wish to talk to electronic ladies (I get into enough trouble with the real ones), I have no music on my phone, don’t have ‘Spotify’ and don't really need hundreds of internet stations. Apart from FM, I appreciate the DAB facility and that’s about all I need. So why buy this range- topping model? Well, money aside, why would one buy anything but a Roberts and then why would a person penny- pinch on the features, for the sake of £25 over, say, a Roberts RD70? Note that the iStream 3 can recharge suitable batteries-which the RD70 cannot, so that £25 could soon disappear anyway. As to competitors, a Roberts is still a Roberts. Take, for example, twiddling the two control knobs. Actually you do not twiddle them at all, since they both turn with a delightful ‘clicking’ motion that ensures precise setting. Although I dare say a Lexus is very nice and has as much kit as the average Bentley, which would you rather own?Unfortunately, like Bentley, Roberts Is no longer truly British: I gather that since 1994 a company in the Irish Republic has owned it. Nor are many models now British built, though it seems anything made of wood still is, moreover there is talk of a SONY owned factory in South Wales. In addition ‘Which?‘ and other soulless reviewers now rank certain other radios rather more highly for performance. Also, that beautiful leather covering is (and always was) really, well.....But not to worry, there are more important things. All those competitors look naff by comparison and it was ever thus. Look at my old R250, it still is really beautiful and unmarked after More than 20 years. It’s been well looked after of course, but one really must not mistreat such things. I have seen some Roberts faded or, worse, peeling. It is evident that, unfortunately, some careless people still leave such jewels on sun drenched window ledges or in damp conservatories. My two radios are of almost identical dimensions and I suspect some of the shaping templates used 20 years ago are still used now. Quality of the IStream’s ‘leather’? Time will tell, but it looks well.There are some not so good developments to report. Whereas for access the old R250 has a rear door mounted on a brass piano hinge, secured by a proper latch, the iStream 3 has to be turned upside down, where there is a rather nasty sliding plastic cover that conceals umpteen (6) miserable little U2 batteries. The base Panel Itself is well fitted but is all- plastic, not wood, and the power cable emerges awkwardly from it. The base of my R250 is covered wood, like the rest of the radio, even though you cannot usually see it.A seven year old can quickly learn how to tune- in the R250 (instructions, 8 pages) and I suppose a 2021 seven gear old could do the same with an iStream 3, but a 73 year old will struggle with the 75(!) page instruction booklet for all of a long day, since this is really a computer with greater facility than they had in 1969 to put a man on the moon. Those instructions are not in keeping with the machine, written by a techno geek: an easy start guide would be useful. The basics for finding an FM radio station are eventually found on page 48! Moreover it is a flimsey affair with tiny print. Seriously, a hardback rather like the one for my old Bentley (1936 model😊) would be expensive but also an original selling point given that even a geek will have to refer to it frequently.There are not really many buttons, but as on all such things today you set the mode, access a menu and then endlessly press away until hopefully the desired function turns up. The viewing panel is too small, but the graphics are beautifully and colourfully done. What does it sound like? Well very nice, clear and adjustable In tone, very crisp and with no buzzing, etc. Whatever the soulless reviewers may declare I would say that this radio is still worth about 200 of your fine British pounds.PS. Some of the above is somewhat tongue in cheek, so please don't take it all too seriously. I did indeed own an old Bentley for 19 years, and very nice it was but, unlike this radio, I couldn’t afford a new one!

I must first start out by stating that as soon as unboxed the radio, I was smitten, however, a little smaller than I imagined, maybe just basing that on the model for which the design was created, back in the day.Then, I switched on the radio and was immediately blown away how good the sound was, once I'd adjusted the EQ to my preference. The main speaker delivers some great bass, even when I lowered that to "-2" and the additional tweeter to the right of the main speaker delivers the right highs to match. At first listen, you could be surprised that this is a mono radio, with the sound quality and the cabinet for the right acoustic quality, it has surely been engineered well in that department.I was able to set-up the internet radio easily via the initial set-up at 1st switch on and registered to my mobile hotspot easy over Wi-fi reception. I hope you don't have to lengthy a password on your Wi-Fi or you'll be scrolling for a while via the display & Tuning/Select knob.I had a Frontier Nuvola Smart Radio account for a Revo radio, I had purchased then returned, so once I accessed the radio for the code, I was instantly ready with a batch of my Favourite stations I had already stored on the account. The Roberts Radio accepted them easy-peasy! I thought to christen the radio, based on it's classic design, I should play one or two Oldies stations on the radio first, seems only fair.The DAB radio also receives stations well (as I expected, being a Roberts!) I live in an area where I'm too far away from my City's transmitter and not near enough to town adjacent, but the Roberts pulls them in, just struggling on rough weather days (like the 10th & 11th March 21) But receives the stations better than a Majority radio I tried before I returned it that one! FM Radio on the Roberts performs well, with the option to omit or allow weaker signals, etc in the settings.Bluetooth: Connects well, no fuss there, but not sure why if that is a fault or if it is part of the Radio's default set-up, but when a device (my mobile) is connected to the iStream 3, it sets the volume up to Max (30) by default, even if I was using another function previously at say Volume 7 or 8, etc. So, make sure that when connected you turn the volume control to the desired setting before playing music, or you'll get a bit of a nasty surprise!! **Update 12/03/21: I don't know if it's the fact that I received phone update to Android 11 or that I decided to re-pair my phone to the Bluetooth, but phone settings have a feature called "Absolute Volume", so the radio doesn't jump to Max volume anymore, sorted!I have recently purchased some rechargeable batteries for the radio. I decided to purchase some 2800mah (only 1.2v) AA batteries and seem to be lasting for as long as other reviewers have mentioned. So-far from the 1 full charge, I had the radio on for about an hour before it showed 2nd level of battery indicator, then about another half-hour before it got down to the last level (but I had been fiddling around with all the options on the radio), had a couple of flickers from the low-battery level (this was generally on the power hungry ol' DAB), but still working well, I'd say it's been about 5/6 hours in total so far at the time I write this and will attempt to see how much the last level goes on for.All-in-all, I'm glad a decided to buy one, it's a design classic! Just wished I hadn't dithered about buying all this time, because about 5/6 months ago the Roberts Radio website included a Roberts Ortus Clock Radio free, never mind, this'll do for me!